Stories of Belarusian families who have gone through US migration prisons

Detention center (migration prison) in Newark (New Jersey), where those awaiting a decision on deportation from the US are held. Photo: Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images

10 months in prison

Lev and Volha Babayeuski with their two children left Belarus in 2022 due to the threat of arrest after participating in protests, Lev Babayeuski told Svaboda.

"Like for many Belarusians, the reason for our departure was 2020. I had my own band, By Cry, concerts, we often performed. After university, I worked with music contracts. And then I opened a rabbit farm. In 2020, I achieved everything... We participated in all the protests, I wrote many comments — about Zeltsar, about Lukashenka's inauguration. We left everything — both our home and the farm, leaving with two suitcases," says Lev.

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Yauheniya and Pavel's family after migration prison. Photo from private archive

Initially, the Babayeuski family went to Poland, then to the Netherlands. They decided to go further to America, where there is no extradition law. The family had an option — to enter the US via Mexico, because the American embassy scheduled their interview only six months later.

"On June 15, 2022, we crossed the Brownsville/Matamoros border crossing. An American officer allowed us into US territory. This was legal at the time. We stayed in detention (migration prison) for less than a day, our documents were checked, and we were released. We hired a lawyer and filed an application with the immigration court for asylum. The court was scheduled two months after crossing the border. But it was postponed for a year, then for another year. At the next hearing, there was a new judge. The prosecutor said that this case was not in the interests of the United States. The judge decided to close the case. This means we were not deported, not granted political asylum, not denied... We are in limbo, and for ICE (the agency dealing with migrants in the US) this is a reason to detain us," Lev recalls those events.

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Lev Babayeuski at protests in 2020

He and his wife Volha were arrested in the same building and placed in different migration prisons. According to the interviewee, an American migration prison has worse conditions than an American prison for criminals.

"50 people in a room, the TV constantly blares. They take you for a walk once a week for 20 minutes. The air conditioner only cools – it's freezing. The food is terrible, breakfast is at 4:30 AM for some reason. They created many irritating factors so that people would agree to deportation. The moral pressure comes from being innocent, but facing uncertainty – how long will we be held. My wife had easier conditions in detention," says Lev.

He was lucky. His mother and brothers live in the US and arranged guardianship over the Babayeuski's minor daughter. They filed a petition for unlawful detention. After 10 months, the Belarusians were released. But the conditions remain difficult.

"My wife's movement was restricted to a 75-mile radius. I was restricted from leaving the state of Texas without ICE permission. They didn't return my passport, my expired driver's license, or my work permit. I only have a release paper with the judge's signature. Officially, I can't work, I can't get a license. Survive however you want! The appeal process takes about a year. When it will be reviewed — who knows," says Lev Babayeuski.

"You can't fully rely on a lawyer"

According to Lev, the situation with immigrants in the US is worsening. There is strong pressure from above — not to grant asylum and to deport people. Regarding Belarusians, initially, the attitude towards them was calm, even positive.

"But now things are changing for the worse. A week ago, my Belarusian acquaintance Dzmitry had a hearing, and the judge stated: 'I don't believe your words, Belarus is a safe country, I see no threats to you and your safety,'" the interviewee recounts.

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Volha Babayeuskaya with her daughter at protests in 2020

Lev advises people preparing their case and getting ready for court proceedings to gather as much information as possible themselves.

"You can't fully rely on a lawyer. If a person is 'well-versed' themselves from various sources and accurately monitors their situation, it will be a strong plus for them. In our case, I left everything to the lawyer and didn't delve deeply into the specifics of the case, which led to problems," says Lev Babayeuski.

Yauheniya (she asks not to disclose her surname for safety reasons. — RFE/RL), whose family has lived in Texas since October 2022, had her husband Pavel and 19-year-old daughter Antonina taken into detention. Yauheniya herself was released because the family has a minor son, Ryhor. She told Svaboda about her sudden departure from Belarus and her fight for her husband and daughter.

"We were the family that wasn't going to leave anywhere. We lived normally: two children, a dacha, a car. I had my own business: a sports squash club in the center of Minsk, my husband had his own business – he organized fishing trips in Russia and Europe, sewed merch. Our teenage daughter was on the national rhythmic gymnastics team, she had a good career ahead of her. Our son went to school. In 2020, it seemed that I was the only one missing from all the movements to change the situation. We went to all the rallies without masks, openly. When participants were given 'days' [of arrest], administrative penalties – we weren't afraid of that. My cousin was brutally detained on the night of August 10-11. But when in 2021 they started giving years of punishment for nothing – that became unacceptable for us. Friends started leaving with their families – people aged 45+, business owners, IT specialists," Yauheniya recalls her life in Belarus.

In 2022, her family also decided to leave. Pavel had a friend who had won a green card a long time ago and lived in the US. He promised to help, to support — he had resources. But American visas were difficult for Belarusians to obtain at that time.

"We bought a tour to Cancun, Mexico. We told everyone we were tired and going to relax by the most beautiful sea. It turned out that we left for vacation forever. Through Poland, we arrived in Cancun. Adventures, buying a car, we went through so much — and on the third attempt, we found ourselves in the US. We immediately asked for political asylum.

I didn't travel on a whim, I was prepared! Even in Belarus, we found a Russian-speaking lawyer in the States, showed him all our evidence of participation in protests, photos. The lawyer from America said: yes, this is a case. We signed an agreement with him. We are law-abiding Belarusians — how could I take my children somewhere unknown? So we had a lawyer, we did everything according to the law," the woman recounts.

Yauheniya explained that in the States, some people are placed in detention centers or camps, some are given electronic bracelets, some are required to have a video call from their apartment once a week. But she and her husband were scheduled to come and report to ICE once a year (without the children). Six months ago, they also came to report.

"However, the ICE officer said that they needed our daughter, as she was already 19. The daughter arrived — they detained her and her husband. And took them to detention. But the daughter's and husband's cases were separated. The girl was taken from Texas to Oklahoma and put in a prison with criminals. There were 'searches': 15 people with automatic weapons in balaclavas burst into the cell due to some contraband. They made everyone face the wall... Then the daughter was transferred to another detention center, moved from Oklahoma to Texas by two planes. 15 hours without food or toilet. Hands and feet in handcuffs. When they were brought in, they were allowed to wash, fed. ICE officers came, gave them papers for self-deportation to sign. The Mexican women signed. But I had prepared my girl for everything. She did not sign the consent to deportation," the woman recounts.

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Yauheniya during protests in Minsk in 2020

Yauheniya managed to secure the release of her relatives. She wrote to congressmen, activists of the Belarusian diaspora, and fought as hard as she could for her daughter and husband. They were released after a month.

"They took my child! Tonya came to America at 16, as a minor — it wasn't her choice and not her responsibility. In 2020, she was 14. Yes, she was at the marches with me, she wrote letters to political prisoners. A person from ICE was found who said it was madness. But the child spent a month in prison," Yauheniya does not hide her emotions.

"One must be ready for anything"

When Yauheniya's husband Pavel was detained, his documents — work permit and insurance — were confiscated. Without them, it's impossible to work legally. A couple of days ago, Yauheniya and Pavel went to report to the local police station. Pavel was again tried to be detained: allegedly, no visa, no green card — as if he was in the US illegally. Their next reporting date was set for September.

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Yauheniya, Pavel and their children after moving to the US

When Yauheniya and Pavel arrived in October 2022, their court date was set for April 2026 — there are long queues in Texas. Recently, the court date was postponed to 2027. Pavel, who spent 1 month in an immigration prison, says that Belarusians must be mentally prepared for anything.

"First: don't resist and come to terms with the fact that you've ended up in prison. Internally, you need to adjust to a different regime — a prison regime — and think about how you're going to survive there. It's difficult: people feel sorry for themselves, withdraw, cry. But it's important to cope with this and accept your state. The second point is that you find yourself among people who have been sitting for two years. There's a lot of negativity there; they tell you it's bad here, no one gets out, everyone gets deported, etc. But they don't know your situation. I didn't discuss it with them, I tried to limit myself, build a 'mental fence'. Then it's easier," advises Pavel.

Hleb Ivashkevich is an active participant and organizer of the 2020 protests in Vitebsk. In 2021, he moved to the US, where he focused on practical assistance to compatriots affected by repression. He helped two dozen Belarusians navigate complex immigration processes, extracting them from migration prisons.

In his opinion, changes are currently taking place in US migration policy, seemingly unnoticed by society.

"One of the important tactics used by the immigration system is that people who file a habeas corpus petition are assigned a 'bond' hearing for release on bail during the petition review process. But the person is denied, and they continue to be held. And that's it. This is a common practice that affects many Belarusians. Belarusians find themselves in a bind: for people who have been in immigration prisons for six months, their psyche is disturbed, constant stress: lawyers are not allowed, correspondence is delayed. They are so exhausted that they are ready for deportation — they have been pressured so much that they have no strength left," says Hleb.

In his opinion, the task of the migration system is to create such conditions that people who come to the US and ask for asylum decide to leave the States themselves.

"Of course, there are non-political ones, but still the majority are political, who came hoping they would be protected. Our former clients — Anatol Bokun, Artur Sianko — already have 'white cards' and can apply for a green card. They are already here legally. However, there is one 'but'."

Even those who have already received green cards may have their cases re-examined: whether the decision was made correctly.

A new minister arrived, and after scandals involving the "round-up" of undocumented immigrants by ICE representatives on the streets and protests, he gave an order to do everything quietly, "under the carpet": so as not to stir up society, so as not to create a commotion. And so as not to raise tensions before the elections," says the interviewee.

Hleb noted that in New York, a judge prohibited detaining people at certain institutions at three addresses where they reported. But this is a temporary prohibition.

The interviewee adds that so far, none of the Belarusians who requested political asylum and were denied have been sent back to Belarus.

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